mcleod



M. A. McLEOD.

MEANS ron THE SORTING AND DELIVERY 0F METAL CONTAINERS.

APPLlCATlON FILED IULY 5 1914- 1 ,1 95,054. Patented Aug. 15,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Fla!

M. A. McL'EOD.

MEANS FOR THE SORTING AND DELIVERY OF METAL CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. 1914.

1,195,054. PatentedAug. 15,1916.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 76 23 06 1 74 Afro/Ma y M. A. McLEOD.

MEANS FOR THE SORTING AND DELIVERY OF METAL CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. 1914. I

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

' 3 SHEETSSHEET 3- /2 742 38 a? [13/ I0 1 I. 39 33 2 27 3 a I If LL 2620 I I \k i L STATES PATENT clarion;v w

n'r'rnnw AL XANDER MoLEOD, or wnnnmc'ron, NEW zEALnmJ.

' MEANS FOR THE SORTING AND DELIVERY OF METAL CONTAINERS.

Application filed July 15, 1914. Serial No. 851,119. 7

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MATTHEW ALEXANDER McLaon,subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Wellington, in theDominion of New Zealand, have invented a new and useful Means for theSorting and Delivery of Metal Containers and the like; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame.

This invention has been devised in order to provide means whereby themetal con- .tainers generally used for holding boot polishes, emulsions,tooth pastes and other commodities may be sorted and delivered in auniform condition as to their open tops, on to a tray for filling orinto receptacles for storage and transport.

The containers are generally composed of a body portion and a lid-madesimilarly to one another and the term container is in scribed as beingused in conjunction with.

such apparatus. It is to be understood however that the sorting anddelivery means designed may be used for other purposes than thatdescribed.

The essential features of the invention consist in a hopper having arotating bot tom into which the containers are fed so as to fill thehopper. The side of the hopper immediately above the level of the bottomis formed with an aperture opening into a passage extending tangentiallyfrom it and made of just suflicient width to permit of one containeronly passing through it at one time. A flange extends inward from theside of the hopper and this flange is made of suflicient width to coverthe width of one container and its inner edge is adjusted so that itshall lie just a sufiicient height above the rotating bottom as topermit of the containers in a flat position passing out beneath theflange. The rotation of the bottom will thus by centrifugal force sendthe containers out through the tangential passage one behind the other.

An inclined conveyer leads from the passage and the containers gravitatedown this.

Speoiflcation of Letters latent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

by the containers passing bottom up down it are automatically ejectedwhile those passmg w th their open tops up are allowed to travel on tothe deliver end so that they may be delivered on to t e tray-or otherreceptacle in that order.

The invention and its working will however-be morefully described tandascertained byv reference to the accompaiyingfsheets of drawings, inwhich I l Figure, 1 is an elevation partly in section, and, Fig. 2 is asectional plan of the hopper and conveyer, Fig. 3 is aplan of .themeansfor ejecting the containers which pass down the conveyor bottom up. Fig.4 is a similar view .to Fig. 3 but in section. Fig. 5 is a crosssectional view on line A-A Fig. a showing the action of the containerswhen they pass down the conveyer bottom down. Fig. is a similar view butshowing the action of the containers when they pass down the conveyerbottom up. Fig. 7 illustrates the action of the flange in the hopper.Fig. 8 shows a plan of the hopp'erand conveyer .adapted to delivercontainers to 'a machine for indenting the edges of such containers.

Fig.9 is a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 8 but having its uppercarriage removed. Fig. 10 is an inverted plan of the upper carriage.vation on line B, B Fig. 8. Fig. 12 is a Fig. 11 is a sectionalelecrosssection on line C, C Fig. 8. Fig. 13

is a side viewof the die for engaging and indenting the edges of thecontainers. Fig. 14 is a similar view. Fig. '15 is a cross section.through the die carrier and its guides. Fig. 16 is a plan of the die andaccompanying parts. Fig. 17 is a plan showing how the container isejected after its edge has been indented.

Referring first more particularly to Figs. 1 to 7 the hopper 1 isstationary and may be fixed by brackets 2 to the framework 3 as shown inFig. 8. The hopper 1 has a. rotating bottom 4 which is mounted in anysuitable manner. Fig. 11 shows. it mounted by its boss 5 upon apin 6projecting from the framework 3. The side of the hopper has an aperture7 opening .into a passage 8 which extends tangentially from the hopper.

This is just of sufficient width to permit of one container passingthrough itat one time.

A circumferential flange 9 extends inwardly from the side of the hopperand is of sufficient width to cover the width of one container. Thebottom edge of this flange is arranged as shown so that it shall be justa suflicient height above the-surface of the rotating bottom as topermit of only containers in a flat position passing out beneath theflange.

As the bottom rotates the centrifugal force thereby set up will forcethe containers out through the tangential passage 8 one behind the otheras indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The inner edge of the flange 9is shown wedge shaped so that where two or more containers have becomejammed together, they will be rotated by the rotating bottom 4 untilsuch time that the flange will pass between the two containers and soseparate them in the manner indicated in Fig 7, the centrifugal forcewill then force the lower container beneath the flange.

An inclined conveyer 10 leads from the passage 8 along which thecontainers gravitate being accelerated in their movement by opening thepressure of containers behind as they are forced into the passage 8 bythe action of the bottom 4. In the drawing the hopper, rotating bottom,and conveyer are on the same inclined plane.

Upon the conveyer 10 is the means for automatically ejecting thecontainers which pass along it bottom up. It consists of an 11 in thebottom of the conveyer (see Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive) while a tongue 12integral with the bottom of the conveyer projects forwardly from theupper edge of the opening. The form of the opening 11 is clearly shownin Fig. 4. The tongue is situated in the central line of the opening. Anopening 13 is formed in the top of the conveyer above the opening 11,and within this opening a plate 14 is located and held in position byfitting beneath and being secured upon a spring 15 which exerts adownward pressure upon this plate. A lip 16 projecting from the top ofthe conveyer may extend over the forward edge of the plate 14. When acontainer 17 passes bottom down along the conveyer as in Fig. 5 thefront end of the plate 14 hearing on the upper edges of the container ata point a little to the rear of the forward end of the tongue 12 willcause the container to pass across the opening 11 and travel down theconveyer. If the container passes bottom up along the conveyer when theedge of such container has passed beyond the front edge ofthe tongue 12the pressure of the plate 14 will cause it to assume the position shownin Fig. 6. The oncoming containers will now force it through the opening11. Guides 18 may be provided to guide the containers to the center ofthe conveyer at this point.

The machine for indenting the edges of the containers is illustrated inFigs. 8 to 17 inclusive. It comprises a table 20 mounted on legs 21while a carriage 22 is hinged to the table at 23. The carriage may bebolted down to the table by bolts passing through the lugs 24 of thecarriage 22 and lugs 25 of the table 20. Carried on rollers 26 and 27are a set of conveyer belts 28 on to which 'lhe'belts 28 pass throughthe plate as clearly shown in Fig. 17 so that a portion of the plate isabove the top of the belts. A roller 33 beneath the plate 31 guides thebelts through the plate while the roller is mounted in a bracket 34which also carries the plate 31. The height of this bracket isadjustable by means of a. slot and stud 36 upon a cross piece 37 whichis bolted to the table 20.

The belt rollers are driven from a main driving spindle 38 through themedium of bevel gears 39 and 40. Journaled in the carriage 22 andgearing with a pinion 41 fixed to the main driving spindle is a toothedwheel 42 adapted to reciprocate a connecting rod 43 by means of a roller44.

Pivoted to the end of the connecting rod by a pin 45 is the diehereinbefore referred to. Thisdie is also pivoted by a pin 47 to a slide46 which is guided by plates 48 fixed to the under side of the carriage22 (see Fig. 15). The die 32 projects through a hole 50 in the slide 46and this projecting portion is fitted with a curved die face 51 adaptedto fit the curved die face of a die 53 fitted adjustably to the underside of the carriage 22 by bolts 54.

When the connecting rod 43 is traveling in the direction of the arrow inFig. 13 the pull will throw. the die to the position shown in Fig. 13. Aplate of papier mach or the like is interposed between the slide 46 andthe point 56 of the die to prevent undue concussion when the die issuddenly brought to that position by the said travel of the rod 43. Whenthe rod 43 is traveling in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 14 the diewill assume the position shown and the die face 51 will be raised clearof the under face of the slide 46. A plate 57 of papier mach or the likeis interposed between the point 58 of the die and the slide 46 for thesame purpose as the plate 55.

A tension piece 60 (see Fig. 15) is introduced into the slide 46 andretained against one of the guides 48 by a spring 61. This tension pieceinsures of the die being brought to either the position shown in Figs.13 or 14 when the direction of the movement of the rod 43 is reversed.

After the die has indented the edge of a container and the die has beenreturned by the return stroke of the connecting rod, the container willbe ejected by an ejector 63.

This ejector is pivoted upon a pin 64 to the underside of the carriage22 and is operated by a cam face 65 fixed to a bracket 66 projectingfrom the central portion of the connecting rod 13. This cam face 65contacts with a pin 67 projecting from the end of the ejector and movesit against the tension of its spring 68 from the position shown in Figs.8, 10 and 16 to the position shown in Fig. 17 This movement of theejector pushes the container off the plate 31 and on .to a set ofconveyer belts 69 carried on the projecting die face will engage theedge of the container and carry it forward to. the position shown inFig. 16 where the action of the two die faces will indent the edge asshown in Figs. 16 and 17. Upon the return or rearward stroke commencingthe die will assume the position shown in Fig. 14 and so pass over thecontainer which is ejected by the ejector 63 when the connecting rod 43reaches the end of its rearward stroke as already described.

In order to prevent the die 32 being raised immediately the rearwardstroke of the connecting rod commences and thereby injuring the diefaces and the indent formed in the container, a bow spring 72 fixed tothe carriage 22 depends over the die 53. Thefront end of the slide 46contacts with the end of this spring so that upon the return stroke ofthe connecting rod the pressure of the spring will retain the slide anddie while in the position of Fig. 13 until the slide is clear of thespring when the tension of the slide will cause the connecting rod toforce the die clear of the container.

In the machine illustrated the indenting mechanism is duplicated, twohoppers being provided from one of which the conthe arrows in Fig. 8 bymeans of a belt 73 passing around the pulleys 74 of the rotating bottoms4 and guide pulleys 75 and thence around a driving pulley 76 fixed tothe main driving shaft 38.

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. Means for the purpose described, consisting of a fixed circularhopper having a rotating bottom, a passageway and conveyer extendingtangentially from the side of the hopper immediately above the rotatingbottom, an opening in the bottom of such conveyer having a tongueextending from its upper edge for a portion of its length situated inthe central line of the opening,

and a spring plate overlying such tongue,

substantially as specified.

2. In means for the purpose described, a conveyer down which thecontainers are fed in a row, an opening formed in the bottom of suchconveyer, a tongue extending centrally downward for a portion of thelength of the opening, and a spring pressure plate overlying suchopening, substantially as specified.

3. Means for the purpose described, consisting of a fixed circularhopper having a rotating bottom, a passage-way extending tangentiallyfrom the side of the hopper at a point immediately above the rotatingbot tom, a flange extending inward from the side of the hopper andhaving its lower ed ie positioned above the rotating bottom slightlymore than the height of the containers to

